Skills Over Experience: A Modern Hiring Approach

Imagine this: You're a hiring manager sifting through dozens, if not hundreds, of CVs. You're seeking the perfect candidate for your company's next significant role, and everyone insists that years of experience matter most. But does time spent in a role really tell you what you need to know about a candidate's ability to excel? Let's be honest: years of experience don't necessarily equate to competence. Here's a closer look at why the traditional approach is flawed and how focusing on skills-based hiring is the better alternative.

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Breaking Down Years of Experience

Traditionally, "years of experience" refers to a candidate's time in a particular field or industry. Sometimes, "equivalent experience" also factors in freelance work, internships, or volunteer activities. When candidates highlight this on their CVs, they showcase how long they have been engaged in a given role or career.

Employers, in turn, have relied on this metric to gauge an applicant's expertise and potential ability to perform. Job postings often include requirements like "3+ years of retail experience" or "10 years of progressive financial oversight experience."

But here's the kicker: more years don't always mean better results.

Why Did Years of Experience Become a Thing?

If candidates often apply to hundreds of positions to secure just one interview, imagine the workload on recruiters sifting through piles of CVs. To quickly qualify or disqualify applicants, employers began listing "years of experience" as a requirement, aiming to reduce the flood of applications.

Internally, it helped companies determine an applicant's potential fit. Externally, it gave job seekers an idea of the role's seniority level. Yet, it's now common to find entry-level positions demanding three or more years of experience, which often leaves recent graduates scratching their heads. So, what's really at play here?

The Problems with Using Experience as a Proxy for Skills

1. Over-Inflation of Requirements: Job descriptions tend to balloon as employers seek to clone departing employees. They demand candidates match the departing person's accumulated skills and experience, leading to unnecessarily high expectations.
2. Unrealistic Expectations: Even a candidate with experience at a direct competitor won't immediately know your internal processes, stakeholders, or work style.
3. Entry-Level Expectations: Requiring multiple years of experience for entry-level roles is incredibly discouraging for graduates and budding professionals.
4. Shrinking Talent Pools: Setting the bar too high prevents younger talent from applying, especially when Gen Z brings precious, tech-savvy skills to the table.
5. Tunnel Vision on Safe Career Paths: Employers often focus on candidates with safe career paths, overlooking multipotentiality who could bring unique perspectives.
6. Alternative Avenues for Skill Building: Skills can be gained through alternative education, boot camps, professional certifications, or personal projects.
7. Bias Against Minorities: Experience requirements tend to disproportionately narrow minority and female applicants, who often don't apply unless they meet all criteria.

So, what should you focus on instead? Skills and competencies.

Skills-Based Hiring: A Better Alternative

Skills-based hiring allows employers to fill roles by directly assessing competencies and reducing bias. Rather than guessing based on past experience, hiring managers can screen candidates for skills and capabilities using unbiased assessments and structured interviews.

Benefits of Skills-Based Hiring Over Experience-Based Methods

1. Rewards Non-Traditional Experience: Captures candidates skilled through alternative routes like boot camps, passion projects, and side hustles.
2. Reduces Bias and Improves Diversity: Evaluates candidates purely on their skills and abilities.
3. Opens Up a Wider Talent Pool: This doesn't unnecessarily limit the pool of applicants and uncovers diamonds in the rough.
4. Assesses Personality and Working Styles: Helps employers gain insight into applicants' soft skills and how they might fit into the company culture.
5. Reduces Time and Cost to Hire: Makes hiring more objective, saving time and money.
6. Reinforces the Importance of Training and Development: Encourages companies to invest in training and professional development.
7. Improves Retention and Limits Mis-Hires: Aligns applicants more accurately with job requirements.
8. Sources Potential Over Past Performance: Unearths candidates who may have less direct experience but significant growth potential.

Skills-Based Hiring in Practice

Imagine you're seeking a finance manager. Instead of listing "10+ years of progressive financial oversight experience," you might focus on competencies like:

• Analytical Thinking: Ability to interpret financial data to drive strategic decisions.
• Leadership: Proven success in leading financial teams.
• Technical Proficiency: Familiarity with relevant software like Excel, Sage, or SAP.
• Soft Skills: Effective communication, problem-solving, and adaptability.

Rather than estimating a candidate's skill level based on experience, unbiased assessments like those offered by TestGorilla directly measure these skills.

Why Skills Matter More Than Experience

1. Non-Traditional Experience: Experience-based methods often overlook skills gained outside a corporate job. Skills assessments value them.
2. Reduced Bias and Improved Diversity: Hiring decisions are based on capabilities, not demographics.
3. Wider Talent Pool: Skills-based hiring doesn't restrict applicants based on formal education or career path.
4. Working Styles and Personality: Skills assessments can include cultural fit and soft skill evaluation.
5. Time and Cost Efficiency: Pre-qualifying candidates saves time and money.
6. Training Emphasis: Encourages companies to develop employee skills.
7. Retention and Mis-Hires: Candidates know the job requirements and the company culture.
8. Potential Over Past Performance: Finds candidates with high growth potential.

How Skills-Based Hiring Benefits Employers

• Improves Quality of Hire: Objective skills assessments ensure hiring managers select the right candidates.
• Reduces Mis-Hires: Mis-hires drop by 92% when organisations rely on skills-based hiring.
• Reduces Hiring Costs: Reduces the cost-to-hire by 89%.
• Increases Retention: Increases employee retention by 91%.

Call to Action: Implement Skills-Based Hiring Today

So, what's the bottom line? Employers must shift their focus from experience to skills to attract the best talent. The correct distinction isn't years of experience; it's about the type and level of skills a candidate has. Here's how you can take action:

• Rethink Your Job Descriptions: Replace "years of experience" requirements with clear skill-based criteria.
• Use Skills Assessments: Incorporate tools like TestGorilla's pre-employment assessments to evaluate skills objectively.
• Revamp Your Interview Process: Conduct structured interviews focusing on key skills and cultural fit.
• Invest in Training: Build a culture of continuous development by investing in training and development.

By embracing these practices, you'll attract better candidates and improve your overall recruitment process.